never again

"Never again" are very human words, maybe associated with a New Year's resolution or said in regret and pain after a bad decision. I remember those words from a badly hung-over college classmate, for example. Usually when people say that, the words express an intent but not reality, because we seem to have little ability to stay away from bad behavior. 

When God says things, those, it's not that way. When Noah and his family finally got off the boat, we read these words (Genesis 8:20-22): "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease.'"

Never again, God says, and it really has never happened again. The seasons have come and gone like clockwork ever since; mankind has continued its evil work but God has never visited his judgment on all of life. 

That's why even the bitter cold and snow of January is reassuring. As long as earth exists, there will be winter – it's part of God's promise to withhold judgment until the time is right. Winter, spring, summer, fall will continue to roll by, each in its turn, as regularly as the sun and moon swap places in the sky. These are God's signs of his faithfulness to us. 

This morning, I'm thanking God for winter. I'm thanking him that rather than venting his worthy wrath, he instead sustains us. I'm thankful that this January has followed December. Not that I'm surprised – God said it would.